Sustainable tree use in Acholi, northern Uganda: A post-colonial approach to protecting an African community and environment

Trees are being lost at an alarming rate in northern Uganda. To an extent this is caused by the commercial charcoal industry, which the government is trying to control, but it is also driven by the domestic needs of the large family landholding groups that own most of the land. Focussing on the Acholi region, the team aim to learn how these family groups, sometimes comprising hundreds of members, govern and manage their natural resources, especially trees. This project will investigate what practices might lead to sustainable consumption through partnering with a local agency with applied arboriculture expertise; and how communities may be inspired to adopt those practices, by understanding potential influences, including local public authorities and popular culture. The project will use innovative methods, in particular collaborative autoethnography, to understand how the Acholi language and episteme shape how the problems and solutions are conceived by communities.

Principal Investigator: Dr Julian Hopwood, London School of Economics and Political Science